Post by Logan on Feb 19, 2016 8:00:28 GMT -6
Lexington council approves resolution backing $250 million convention center project
The Urban County Council voted Thursday to support a new financing plan for a $250 million overhaul of the downtown convention center that would include $10 million in city funds.
The unanimous vote came after a one-hour-plus discussion at a council workshop before the meeting. The tweaked financing plan also includes $60 million in state money and an increase of 2.5 percentage points in Fayette County’s hotel and motel tax.
The council’s endorsement of the plan with its $10 million pledge was a key step in a long process to secure financing for the overhaul that will include a new 100,000-foot exhibition hall to the west of Rupp Arena and new meeting rooms along Main Street.
The Lexington Center Corp., which oversees the convention center, Rupp Arena and Lexington Opera House, still must convince the Kentucky General Assembly to include $60 million for the project in the state’s two-year budget and pass separate legislation that would increase Fayette County’s hotel and motel tax from the current rate of 6 percent to 8.5 percent.
Read more here: www.kentucky.com/news/local/counties/fayette-county/article61185592.html
The Urban County Council voted Thursday to support a new financing plan for a $250 million overhaul of the downtown convention center that would include $10 million in city funds.
The unanimous vote came after a one-hour-plus discussion at a council workshop before the meeting. The tweaked financing plan also includes $60 million in state money and an increase of 2.5 percentage points in Fayette County’s hotel and motel tax.
The council’s endorsement of the plan with its $10 million pledge was a key step in a long process to secure financing for the overhaul that will include a new 100,000-foot exhibition hall to the west of Rupp Arena and new meeting rooms along Main Street.
The Lexington Center Corp., which oversees the convention center, Rupp Arena and Lexington Opera House, still must convince the Kentucky General Assembly to include $60 million for the project in the state’s two-year budget and pass separate legislation that would increase Fayette County’s hotel and motel tax from the current rate of 6 percent to 8.5 percent.
Read more here: www.kentucky.com/news/local/counties/fayette-county/article61185592.html